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Weight is only one number — this test is a better measure of body composition
I spent one year working with Virta Health Clinic on a medically-supervised ketogenic diet to reverse type 2 diabetes. One of the program requirements was to weigh myself daily. They sent a fancy digital scale connected to the internet, so there was no chance I could fudge the numbers. Weighing yourself is a great feeling when losing weight, but when you are stuck at a plateau or gaining weight, it can mess with your mind. You do all this work and see the number go up, and that’s as good a reason as any to head straight to Krispy Kreme donuts. But weight is only one number, and it doesn’t tell you about your bone density, lean muscle, or fat.
As Dr. Peter Attia explained in this clip from The Megyn Kelly Show, if you lose twenty pounds, ideally, you want fifteen pounds to be fat. That’s not what he’s seeing with his patients taking Ozempic or Wagovy.
I hope I had your curiosity and now I have your attention. When losing weight, the amount of fat vs. muscle you’re losing matters. Peter mentions a DEXA scan that he uses to assess body composition. I just had a DEXA scan, so let me explain how it works and my results.
